Giving attention to non-cereal sub-sectors of agriculture
Monday, 8 November 2010
Faridul Islam
Food security will have to mean self-sufficiency or near self-sufficiency also in other foodstuffs apart from grains.
For example, cooking oil is an indispensable food item and mustard oil was produced sufficiently to meet the requirements of the consumers fully. But now, locally produced mustard oil meets roughly one tenth of such requirements and the rest 90 per cent of needs for cooking oil have to be met by importing mainly soybean oil.
The same can be said about dry chillies, ginger and other spices as well as various pulses which used to be grown in Bangladesh abundantly and met the entire demand of the country. But now substantial quantities of these have to be imported because of insufficient local production. Thus, import dependence has also developed in relation to these food items.
In this context, the latest move by Bangladesh Bank to facilitate disbursement of loans at a concessional rate of interest to support production-oriented activities relating to some such import-substituting agricultural commodities is welcome. The lending operations by the banks for this purpose should be closely monitored by the central bank.
It is to be noted here that once the country was self sufficient in milk and fishes. But milk powder is now imported in large quantities and also fishes, because the levels of their domestic production have been falling short of the demand. Thus, the country has not only became largely import dependent in relation to many basic food items but also vulnerable to their price escalations in international markets.
This situation constitutes a drain on the country's modest foreign currency reserve. At times, the rising prices of imported foodstuffs also make it difficult or impossible to market them at desirable prices in the local markets. Thus, it is very necessary to make large scale investments in the coming years by the government and the private sector in the non-cereal sub-sectors of agriculture. However, it needs to be emphasised that all such investments must be made under a comprehensive and strategic framework.
Planned cultivation of the non-cereal crops with improved seeds and technologies should be encouraged in all possible ways. Policies should lead to a big push in the livestock, dairy and pisiculture sectors to substantially increase production in them. Furthermore, production of fruits and vegetables for meeting fully the internal consumption needs and then producing a surplus for export, must be aimed.
Food security will have to mean self-sufficiency or near self-sufficiency also in other foodstuffs apart from grains.
For example, cooking oil is an indispensable food item and mustard oil was produced sufficiently to meet the requirements of the consumers fully. But now, locally produced mustard oil meets roughly one tenth of such requirements and the rest 90 per cent of needs for cooking oil have to be met by importing mainly soybean oil.
The same can be said about dry chillies, ginger and other spices as well as various pulses which used to be grown in Bangladesh abundantly and met the entire demand of the country. But now substantial quantities of these have to be imported because of insufficient local production. Thus, import dependence has also developed in relation to these food items.
In this context, the latest move by Bangladesh Bank to facilitate disbursement of loans at a concessional rate of interest to support production-oriented activities relating to some such import-substituting agricultural commodities is welcome. The lending operations by the banks for this purpose should be closely monitored by the central bank.
It is to be noted here that once the country was self sufficient in milk and fishes. But milk powder is now imported in large quantities and also fishes, because the levels of their domestic production have been falling short of the demand. Thus, the country has not only became largely import dependent in relation to many basic food items but also vulnerable to their price escalations in international markets.
This situation constitutes a drain on the country's modest foreign currency reserve. At times, the rising prices of imported foodstuffs also make it difficult or impossible to market them at desirable prices in the local markets. Thus, it is very necessary to make large scale investments in the coming years by the government and the private sector in the non-cereal sub-sectors of agriculture. However, it needs to be emphasised that all such investments must be made under a comprehensive and strategic framework.
Planned cultivation of the non-cereal crops with improved seeds and technologies should be encouraged in all possible ways. Policies should lead to a big push in the livestock, dairy and pisiculture sectors to substantially increase production in them. Furthermore, production of fruits and vegetables for meeting fully the internal consumption needs and then producing a surplus for export, must be aimed.